Structured integration of industry , academia & business for a sustainable bloc
Introduction:
Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is
primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers. In 2011, Russia became the world’s leading oil producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia; Russia is the second-largest producer of natural gas; Russia holds the world’s largest naural gas reserves, the second- largest coal reserves, and the eighth-largest crude oil reserves. Russia is the third-largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum – and other less competitive heavy industries that
remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country’s high technology sectors, but with few results so far. The economy had averaged 7% growth in the decade following the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. According to the World Bank the government’s anti-crisis package in 2008-09 amounted to roughly 6.7% of GDP. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world’s third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began
to grow in the third quarter of 2009. However, a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output, prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year, and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade. High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in 2011 and helped Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from the lean years of 2008-09. Russia has reduced unemployment since 2009 and has made progress on reducing inflation since 2010. Russia’s long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies, and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.
http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat/rosstatsite.eng/figures/industry/
RUSSIAN Aviation & Aerospace
The Russian aviation industry is one of several key business sectors kept under constant review and scrutiny by the Ministry of Industry and Energy. The reasons for this close review are twofold; Russia considers a strong aviation industry vital not only to economic success but also to national security. By 2005 Russia’s entire civil aviation industry was building on average a total of 10 aircraft per year. In comparison, in 2005 Boeing and Airbus booked over
1,000 orders each for new aircraft. At the same time, on the domestic front, demand for civil aircraft is and remains high. According to the Russian Transport Ministry, by 2005, of 2,528 total civil aircraft currently in service, more than one-half had passed their legal operational limits and needed replacing. In addition,...read more
RUSSIAN Oil, Power, Gas
Russia is rich in energy resources. Russia has the largest known natural gas reserves of any state on earth, along with the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. This is 32% of world proven natural gas reserves (23% of the probable reserves), 12% of the proven oil reserves (42% of the probable reserves), 10% of the explored coal reserves (14% of the estimated reserves) and 8% of the proven uranium reserves.
In recent years Russia has identified the gas sector as being of key strategic importance. The share of natural gas as a primary energy source is rema...read more
RUSSIAN Infrastructure
The transportation infrastructure in Russia is underdeveloped. The transport system is heavily Moscow-centered, with virtually all transportation channels of economic significance emanating from Moscow. Commercial transportation relies heavily on rail. Roughly 90 percent of commercial haulage is rail-based and insufficiently integrated into world transport systems. The Russian trucking industry is only minimally developed, and roads are not designed to carry heavy and long-distance truck traffic.
The Russian railway system includes a total of 150,000 kilometers (93,210 miles) of broad gauge rail, making it one of the most extensive railway systems in the world. However, of this total only 87,000 kilometers (54,061 miles) is in “common carrier” service. The remaining 6...read more
RUSSIAN Automotive
Dmitry Levchenkov, an official spokesman for the Ministry for Economic Development, said that Russia would assemble up to 100 modern car models. According to him, Sollers-Ford will invest $1.2 billion in the production to assemble as many as 300,000 cars every year. GM promised to invest approximately $1 billion; Volkswagen – $900 million. As for Fiat, the above-mentioned ministries will arrange agreement with the company in the nearest future. The previous document about the industrial assembly will be taken as a basis for the new agreement. The new agreement will stipulate the increase of the production output – 120,000 cars a year, Gudok.ru website said. Investments from the Italian car-maker are expected to reach $1.1 billion.
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации) exercises operational leadership of the armed forces of Russia. The Russian Minister of Defence is the nominal commander of all the armed forces, serving under the president of the Russian Federation, in whom executive authority over the military is vested. In this capacity, the minister exercises day...read more
RUSSIA DEFENCE
RUSSIA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The Russian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1725, is the chief coordinating body for scientific research in Russia through its science councils and commissions. It has sections of physical, technical, and mathematical sciences; chemical, technological, and biological sciences, and earth sciences, and controls a network of nearly 300 research institutes. The Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, founded in 1929, has departments of plant breeding and genetics; arable farming and the use of agricultural chemicals; feed and fodder crops production; plant protection; livestock production; veterinary science; mechanization, electrification, and automation in farming; forestry; the economics and management of agricultural production; land reform and the organization of land use; land recla...read more
